CHILDREN WE SERVE

Caterpillars, 1 to 2 years old

The Caterpillar Room accepts children between 12 and 24 months of age. The second year of life is a time of great expansion in the child’s understanding and capabilities. During this year language begins, an understanding of self and others blossoms, movement becomes controlled and more coordinated, and emotions begin to be understood and under some personal control. Moreover, the child is learning the rules of his culture and how to be a contributing member of this culture.

The philosophy of the Caterpillar Room is one of providing responsive care for each child to build self esteem and self control. All learning for very young children is based upon their close relation with caring adults. The Caterpillar Room staff works with families to recognize their child’s strengths and to provide opportunities for learning in all facets of their development.

Tadpoles, 2 to 3 years old

Toddler time is a very exciting time for you and your child. This milestone is usually indicated when the young child takes the initiative to formulate their own ideas, and develop a sense of autonomy. We at the Campbell Child & Family Center support your toddler during this wonderful time by encouraging an enhanced sense of self-confidence and self esteem.

Our toddler room is safe, spacious and inviting for your child, a place that offers a diversity of age specific learning tools and social opportunities for all children. Your toddler is exposed to colors, shapes, numbers, letters, art sensory activities, song & dance, books, puzzles and many other developmental learning activities throughout their daily routine. The development of language and self-help skills are encouraged and promoted through creative play.

Lightning Bugs, 3 to 4 years old

Every child's development is unique and complex. For this reason, the Lightning Bug teachers celebrate each child as a unique individual. Three-year-olds learn primarily through exploring and using all the senses. While playing, they can ignore distractions and focus on the task at hand. They will persist in completing something that is a bit difficult and will begin to think creatively and methodically when solving problems. Our goal is to provide a rich, safe and quality environment through which a child may explore.

As they develop more independence, children this age begin to have real friendships with other children. The Lightning Bug room fosters growth in this area as children learn to empathize with each other and learn to work cooperatively.

Rainbow Fish, 4 to 5 years old

The Rainbow Fish classroom environment is based on the center’s philosophy that children learn best when they are guided to actively explore and experiment within their surroundings. Along with that, children develop creative expression, social responsibility, and respect for the individual through a personal process. Our goals for the children and their families throughout the year are to:

Develop Social Skills,

Increase esteem through self-accomplishment,

Learn how to value another person’s rights by teaching respect for others,

Encourage cognitive development according to each child’s learning style,

Developing an appropriate pattern of dependence and independence,

Cultivate a sense of continuity between school and the outside world, and

Encourage family involvement.

IN THE CLASSROOM

PLAY
Our program philosophy is based on the premise that children learn about the world around them through play (active involvement with other children adults, and materials).

Children need years of experience with real objects and events before they are ready to understand the meaning of symbols such as letters and numbers. Children learn best in open-ended explorations when teachers help them make connections. Learning takes place as young children touch, manipulates, and experiments with the things, and interact with people. The teachers’ role is to create an environment that supports the ideas and experiences of children and invites them to observe, be active, make choices, and experiments. Learning is not imposed on the child; rather it is what takes place naturally in an environment that offers a choice of activities created with children’s interests in mind.

JUST FOR FUN
Television or video viewing is not part of the developmentally appropriate curriculum designed for the education of your children. However, there may be times when videos may be used in the classroom for special learning activities. Parents are asked to sign a permission slip with registration packets, if you are opposed to all television viewing, please report this in writing to the center director to be placed in your child’s file.

KID'S STUFF
The following list of items will help you be ready for school:

Items for rest: blanket, small pillow, favorite “soft” toy (Special toys are restricted to use during rest & otherwise must remain in your child’s cubby)

Diapers & wipes (if appropriate)

Toothbrush and toothpaste

Water bottle (or “sippy” cup) – water bottles are left at school and must be able to stand up to daily use in sanitizer (hard plastic, stainless steel, etc.)

Hat (sunglasses recommended)

Extra Clothes (underpants, pants, shirt, socks, shoes)

School policy recommends that all shoes have closed toes and closed backs

Please be sure to check your child’s cubby often to ensure teachers have a fresh supply of all items (especially clean clothes and diapers).

Keep in mind that active preschoolers get messy as a part of learning! Try not to send your children in special clothing, as we often use fun and messy materials that may cause stains. We do our best to keep kids clean, but we value their learning and play too much to compromise fun (and sometimes untidy) stuff!

OUTDOOR PLAY
All children who are well enough to be in attendance are expected to participate in outdoor play. The only exceptions are stormy days, summer days when the heat index is over 100, and winter days when the wind chill factor is below 20 degrees. On these days, children will either stay inside or go outside for brief periods of time. Studies have consistently shown that children do not have lowered resistance to colds or other infections because of outdoor play, but are much healthier and have stronger resistance to illness with exercise out-of-doors. Also, in order to maintain our teacher-to-child ratio, ALL of the children must go out at the same time. Parents MAY NOT request for their child to stay indoors while the rest of the group is outside.

CAMPUS OUTINGS, FIELD TRIPS
Except during summer programming, when outings may take place daily, parents are given notice for all special activities and “field trips.” When classes utilize different departments on campus (such as the library and larger playground), teachers will notify families and leave cell phone contact information posted outside of the classroom. For special outing events (like “Barnyard Days”), staff will often request parent volunteers to help facilitate increased supervision, so please let us know if you would like to participate in such outings. (Chaperoning outings is a great way to meet your Parent Volunteer Component hours)

When classes leave the facility, teachers take along packets of emergency contact information for each child. In the event of any emergency, you will be contacted immediately.

If you arrive late to school with your child and his/her class has left for an outing, you will be responsible for locating the group on campus so that your child may join in the activity taking place.

DAILY ROUTINE

Campbell Center strives to be a high quality early care and education environment that supports the learning of young children. To accomplish our goals, daily routines and the overall structure of our program are two of the most significant components offered as a part of each child’s learning experience. We request that families become familiar with each classroom schedule, and then do your best to ensure that your family’s daily routine is consistent, as well. The most important timeframe for established curriculum occurs between 9:00 am and 12:30 pm, and we hope that you will value the importance of your child being included in such daily activities as morning circles, group meetings, and small group activities.

Although we appreciate your busy schedules, creating a consistent daily routine is important for your child, as well as the other children in their classroom. (For example, arriving to pick-up your child during rest will likely awaken other children). Each classroom will maintain their own schedule; however, most classrooms have similar routines that closely resemble the sample provided on the following page for your review. Please check your child’s classroom to verify their times for daily activities and communicate with staff when you will have difficulty maintaining a schedule that corresponds with the classroom. If you arrive late to school or come to pick-up your child early and the group is away from the school, please be aware that it is your responsibility to locate your child’s class on campus. Your child will not be permitted to join another classroom or remain at the center with other staff.

We strongly encourage all children to arrive at the center by 9:00 each morning. Arrangements for your child to arrive later must be discussed with your child’s teacher. This is for the benefit of classroom planning.

The daily schedule for the children is a guide. It provides a framework for planning and organizing the daily routine and play activities for the children. Routines for children may be a little different based on the age of your child. Toddlers are changed/taken to the toilet before transitions in the day and as needed.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE FOR TODDLER POD

The following daily schedule is an outline of a typical day with the toddlers. The schedule includes flexibility by overlapping time and adjustments are made if needed. Below is a sample that includes the different types of components to the daily schedule.